Atlantic City casino gambling revenue drops 12 percent in past month

AP photoIn this Nov. 14, 2007 file photograph, hotels and casinos in Atlantic City are reflected in the water.

ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic City’s casino gambling revenue tumbled 12 percent in September, after Pennsylvania added table games this summer and a new casino opened in Philadelphia last month.

Gambling proceeds shrank to $296.3 million, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission said today on its website. Slot machine revenue at the 11 casinos fell 9.9 percent to $209 million from a year earlier. Table proceeds declined 16 percent to $87.4 million.

The results extend three years of declines for the New Jersey seaside resort, the second-biggest U.S. casino city after Las Vegas. Philadelphia’s first casino, SugarHouse, opened Sept. 23 with 40 table games and 1,600 slot machines, attracting gamblers who live in a key Atlantic City market.

Atlantic City has been hurt by the economy and growing competition from surrounding states such as Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware. Six of the casinos went through bankruptcy or restructured debt in the past year, and development has stalled.

The casinos’ gambling revenue was $2.8 billion in this year’s first nine months, 8.7 percent less than a year earlier.

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